“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Rev 21:4
When I was a little girl there was nothing better than Christmas morning. I can easily transport my heart and mind back to laying in the darkness waiting for the first signs of the sun awaking. I would be wide-eyed wondering what on earth was taking it so long to display its beautiful colors. I knew that once the tiniest slice of sky appeared the sun couldn’t help itself but to burst through. And that was my cue to jump up, wake up my sisters and run downstairs to look under the Christmas tree. Oh, of course we had to awake Mother and Daddy first.
In reminiscing this morning, I began thinking about all the gifts God has given me throughout my life. Some of the gifts have pleasantly surprised me, while others were given to me before I even was aware of my life. Unparalleled gifts I’ve experienced like my parents, my sisters and extended family. I have been given the gift of marriage, children, grandchildren, friends and acquaintances. I am still waiting to unwrap some gifts that are up ahead on another Christmas morning. There have been precious gifts to whom I had to say farewell, those gifts whose bodies wore out. But those gifts will be returned to me one day. God has promised to re-gift some my most important gifts of all…Daddy, Beth, Grandmother and Granddaddy Miller, Holdie and Granddaddy Holder. There will gifts to rediscover like my aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. It will be a day like Christmas morning no matter what time of year I go home.
The slice of heaven will open, and the fragrance of Home will seep through like a sunrise that never leaves the horizon. As I open my eyes the first gift will be the face of Christ looking right back at me. There will be gifts all around and it will take eternity to discover all of them. The next gifts will be the open arms of my family asking me what took me so long. There will incredible aromas like I’ve never smelled before. The music will flow in melodious symphony, a sound never heard on earth. The colors will be a vibrant hue that my eyes have yet to see. My mind cannot even perceive the gifts and re-gifts that the Father has wrapped for me to open.
This gives me great comfort today for those who are getting ready to open their eyes to Christmas in Heaven. All those precious friends and family who God is calling home. They are getting ready to receive some of the greatest re-gifting ever...their worn out bodies re-gifted to perfect healthy ones. Their broken hearts for departed loves ones will be re-gifted to face to face reunions. They are opening their eyes to experience in full what they have only known in part on earth. On earth our loved ones have known pain, suffering, sickness and sin but God is turning that gift into joy, wholeness, healing and perfection. No matter what day the calendar says they are opening their eyes to Christmas morning.
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